Trot singer Sul Woon-do, who has enjoyed the public's love for decades with his signature song "Shanghai Twist," belts out "top-and-bottom (Shanghai) twist" while shaking a jacket in his right hand and jeans in his left. Rocker Kim Kyung-ho, in the chorus of his signature song "Forbidden Love," clutches a "tomahawk (a tomahawk-cut steak shaped like an axe, with rib meat surrounding the rib attached to the loin)" and shouts "on the same day, toma (leave)."
Gmarket's discount event "G Rock Fest," launched as a series starting in Sept. this year, and the "Big Smile Day" ad campaign run ahead of winter Black Friday are drawing back-to-back buzz. The ads recruited a large number of genre-leading singers, from Kim Kyung-ho, Park Wan-kyu and Cherry Filter to Sul Woon-do, Kim Jong-seo, Hwanhee, Min Kyung-hoon and Ailee, and were made by combining signature songs with shopping categories through wordplay.
The singers in the ads begin singing in a somewhat serious mood, then pick up promotional items sold on Gmarket and twist the chorus lyrics. The lyric "because I loved you" from Park Wan-kyu's "Love of a Thousand Years" turns into "because I loved you, tablet," and Min Kyung-hoon's line in "A Journey Leaving for Me," "Far away you are my sunshine we were together," transforms into "hwal-eo-hoe mul-hoe one shot two more rockfish," prompting laughter.
In the 15-second ads, the portion where the Gmarket logo or the discount event explanation appears is short, just the final five seconds, but it leaves that much stronger an impression. People who first encounter the ads on TV are also going back to watch them again on YouTube.
On Gmarket's official YouTube channel, the ads featuring Min Kyung-hoon and Kim Kyung-ho have surpassed 7.8 million and 7.4 million views, respectively. The ads starring Sul Woon-do and Ailee have also topped 7.2 million and 5.3 million views. User-remixed content of the Gmarket ads is spreading in shorts form, and the company said posts not uploaded directly by the company alone have amassed tens of millions of views.
ChosunBiz met with Seo Jun-seok, people leader (Head of Team) of Gmarket's Brand Marketing Team, at Gmarket's headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, on the 4th. Seo oversees Gmarket's overall branding strategy, including advertising. On the background for running such a bold ad campaign, he said, "It started from thinking about how to bring Gmarket and customers closer again." The following is a Q&A.
─ Please introduce your background and current role.
"I joined eBay Korea in 2017 after working at integrated ad agencies Hancomm and Adqua. I handled branding strategy for the shopping mall G9, then joined Gmarket in 2020 and worked in the planning team and Brand Marketing Team, among others. Now, as people leader (Head of Team) of the Brand Marketing Team, I oversee tasks such as strategy development and ad campaigns to promote Gmarket."
─ I'm curious about the planning background of the bold ads.
"Competition in the e-commerce industry is intense, and we are always thinking about how to draw consumer attention. Various promotions fronting keywords like 'hot deal,' 'super special price,' and 'big sale' appear and disappear frequently. In this situation, we wanted to create a signature promotion that represents Gmarket and prompts customers to visit regularly.
Normally, when we shop in a good mood, we often say we 'splurge' (jirinda). Taking inspiration from that, we designated the 1st to 3rd of every month as 'G Rock Fest (Gmarket Jilleo Rock Festival)' and planned a festival-like discount event. The 'splurge' concept naturally connected to 'rock' music, and we came up with the idea of featuring powerful rock vocalists to expand it into an element that gives customers enjoyment."
─ What did you focus on during planning?
"For a brand, it's important to build and develop relationships with customers. Compared to when Gmarket was famous in the past, we thought our relationship with customers had grown distant. We believed simply pushing 'discount events' would not achieve strong ad results.
Gmarket's main customers are people in their 30s and 40s who had active cultural experiences in the 1990s and 2000s. To target touchpoints with them, we put singers who were at their peak at the time front and center, aiming to approach naturally. Even those in their teens and 20s who did not directly enjoy the culture back then are responding enthusiastically to the content, so we also expect potential customer expansion."
─ Did you expect the ads to be a hit?
"We didn't have certainty in the planning stage, but once filming began, we had a hunch it would succeed. The first shoot took about 24 hours in Eulwang-ri in summer, and the on-site atmosphere was so good that the laughter didn't leave despite the heat. The singers also contributed to expanding the content by offering ideas on set."
─ Did the ads have an effect?
"When we ran the first 'G Rock Fest' promotion in Sept., we prepared 70,000 discount coupons, but they all ran out on the morning of the first day, so we had to roughly double the quantity. Gmarket traffic also rose about 20% after the ads.
Also, products featured directly in the ads have been selling out within five to 10 minutes of the event starting, showing sales impact. Existing customers are revisiting Gmarket, and people who didn't know about Gmarket or weren't interested are coming for the first time."
─ Do you plan to continue the bold ads?
"The 'G Rock Fest' promotion held from the 1st to 3rd of every month is only in its fourth month. This promotion will continue next year and the year after. Our goal is to imprint G Rock Fest in customers' minds so it can become the keyword that represents Gmarket.
We have already finished filming the ad slated for Jan. next year. A woman rocker you might not expect will appear. We hope you take great interest."